Cod Almighty | Diary

Fine, thanks for asking

16 November 2022

Think of this diary as one of those encounters with someone you know quite well, but to whom you have not much to say. You smile, you say "How are you?" but you are three quarters of the way past them before you pause, twisting awkwardly in mid-stride. Your body language makes the question purely rhetorical, except there'll be no rhetoric today.

Last night's planned FA Youth Cup game against Crewe was postponed because of the bad weather, leaving our under-18s to bask a few days longer in the memory of their 4-0 win over Hartlepool at the weekend. In Middle-Aged Diary's weekly search to contextualise these tidings, I've come upon Fastscore, which has an impressively detailed index of competitions, from the Lincolnshire Senior Cup right down to the so-called Premier League. The Town youth are top of the Youth Alliance League North East Division, but have played more games than their rivals. There is no word yet on a new date for the game against Crewe, who play in the higher ranked Under-18 Professional Development League.

A game which did take place was the FA Cup replay between Cambridge United and Curzon Ashton. On the off-chance you avoided seeing the result to add a touch of excitement to today's Cod Almighty Diary (some hope), the third-flight team won on penalties after two hours of goalless football. It's a slightly disappointing result for me, as Ashton is far more gettable-to than Cambridge from my end of Manchester. Its a relief for everyone else in Cod Almighty Towers, who had been bracing themselves for endless repetitions of how the first game I took my son to was Trafford v Curzon Ashton in the North-West Counties League, a long time ago.

Did you know Nathan Arnold is the new manager of Cleethorpes? Oh, you did. The Telegraph has spun a couple of articles out of an interview with him. He says exactly what you'd expect him to say about the area, about Paul Hurst and about 2016, but it is still good of him to say it.

Right, this quick exchange of pleasantries has suddenly turned awkward. You have gone from trying to look inconspicuously at your watch to forcibly unclasping my hand off your wrist. Grimsby Women beat Lincoln United and retain their 100 per cent record in their league I say, to your back as it recedes, at some pace, into the distance.

I don't know, you used to be so friendly. Just because we didn't win an award.